Friday, February 27, 2015

I have set up a new blog in the Der Alte Fritz family of blogs that will be devoted entirely to the happenings and goings on in the Kingdom of Hesse Seewald. Eventually I will post pictures of the regiments in the Hesse Seewald Heere and post stories about the pending war with Saxony.

Click on the link and if you have the time, add yourself as a "follower" so that I can tell if that gadget is working properly. A few comments would also help me see how that aspect is working out.

Originally I set up this blog to experiment with some design elements that I might use on this blog. The principal experiment was with adding wallpaper background to the blog.

Health Update
My wrist is healing up nicely and I'm pretty close to normal again. I can type without any pain or symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome so the surgery was very successful. The other evening I gave the paint brushes a work and finished a dozen of the Volontaires de Saxe lancers that had been sitting on the painting table since December. I hope to get the unit based and grassed over the weekend so that I can take a picture for the blog.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Today's regiment is one of the first units that I painted in my Continental Army several years ago. The 1st Maryland was in Sullivan's Division at Brandywine. I wanted this regiment to have a larger number of militia figures in it to reflect new recruits and to add more variety to the firing poses. In fact, twelve of the figures in the 25 figure regiment are American militia figures.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Today's AWI featured regiment is the 7th Pennsylvania Regiment that was in the First Pennsylvania Brigade, commanded by Colonel Thomas Hartley. The brigade was one of two in Anthony Wayne's 4th Division at the battle of Brandywine Creek in 1777.

This is a 30-figure regiment consisting of the following figures from the Fife & Drum American Revolution (AWI) figure range:

Looking at the list above, one can see that all four of the primary Continental soldiers in uniform coats in the marching pose are used extensively to form this regiment. You could also add several of the marching soldiers wearing hunting shits.

For this particular regiment, I decided to use a command stand including 2 drummers, 1 officer, 1 standard bearer, and two different marching poses.

Monday, February 23, 2015

The next regiment that we shall look at is wearing, largely, grey hunting shirts along with one stand of purple hunting shirts and one stand of khaki colored hunting shirts. This regiment incorporates all of the Fife & Drum Continental Firing Line in Hunting Shirts product codes. The 25 figure regiment includes the following figures:

The picture above provides a close up vier of the command stand which includes the officer standing and shading his eyes with his hand, a standard bearer in stoic standing position, the drummer all in the front rank. Then in the back rank I have placed two figures: A40 biting his cartridge and A39 cocking his musket. The latter two figures do not take up a lot of space and don't prod the figures in front of them with their muskets, so they are perfect figures for the second rank of the regiment.

Flags:

Initially my Continental regiments were flagged in a rather haphazzard manner, no doubt similar to what the actual regiments did in Washington's army. After awhile, I sort of stumbled onto the idea of using the same or similar flags in each of my brigades. Thus in my 2nd Pennsylvania Brigade, commanded by Colonel Thomas Hartley, I used the "Brandywine Flag" (red field with red and white stripes in the canton) for all four of the regiments in my brigade. This way, I can quickly and easily identify the brigade during the battle.

The really serious re-enactors and students of the period will probably blanch at the idea of using any form or variant of the Stars and Stripes (or "Betsy Ross") flag during the American Revolution. I like to hang my hat on the thin thread of the idea that the Stars and Stripes were officially authorized by Congress in 1777, but I will readily admit that the flag design may not have been used in the field during the Brandywine campaign. Furthermore, nothing says "American army" more easily than spying the Stars and Stripes on a unit in a war-game.

As a result, a number of regiments in my 1st Pennsylvania Brigade have the Stars and Stripes.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

I thought that it might be helpful if I focused on one of my Fife & Drum AWI Continental regiments and provided a list of all the different figures from the range in that regiment. This will provide a template for anyone else interested in building and painting a similarly posed regiment.

I chose one of my regiments that is in a firing line pose, the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment circa 1776, when they were issued with green uniforms with red facings. After the retreat of Washington's army from New York in late 1776, the regiment was supposed to pick up new uniforms, as depicted in my regiment; however, the retreat across New Jersey happened so fast that the supply depot containing the replacement uniforms was captured by the British before the 1st Pennsylvania could get their new uniforms. Thus this regiment is a sort of "what if" regiment in terms of the uniform colors.

I like my Continental regiments to look like a rag tag unit out on campaign. Nothing accomplishes this look better than using a wide variety of figures, to eliminate any appearance of uniformity. I used a mix of Continental and Militia figures to create the regiment. Here (following) is a list of the figures used in a 25 figure regiment:

Continental Firing Line in Uniform Coats

1 x A20 Continental Officer, Marching

1 x A21 Continental Standard Bearer, Marching

1 x A22 Continental Drummer, Marching

1 x A23 Continental NCO, marching

6 x A24 Continental Standing Firing

3 x A25 Continental Standing At the Ready

2 x A26 Continental using ramrod

3 x A27 Continental Cocking His Musket

1 x A1 Militia Officer holding sword

2 x A5 Militia Standing Firing, Brimmed Hat

3 x A6 Militia Kneeling Firing, Brimmed Hat

1 x A7 Militia Cocking His Musket

25 total figures

If you are interested in ordering a similar regiment for your Continental forces, then visit our web site at the following link:

I wanted to add in some figures wearing brimmed hats rather than kit out everyone with tricorn hats, so using the American Militia figures fulfilled my needs in this respect. I used the A1 officer holding his sword in his hand to give me a second officer pose; I used the A5 Militiaman standing firing and wearing a brimmed hat instead of a tricorn hat; and finally, I used the A6 Militiaman kneeling firing to add pose variety, and finally, an A7 Militiaman cocking his musket.

You can see how the whole regiment of 25 figures looks, below:

1st Pennsylvania Regiment - Fife & Drum Miniatures

An overhead birdseye view is also shown below:

Overhead view of the full regiment.

Wtih respect to basing, I use a 20mm square footprint for each infantry figure, so my normal 6-figure stand measures 60mm frontage and 40mm depth for six figures arrayed in doube ranks. For the 1st Pennsylvania, I used a 25 figure regiment, but kept the same 60mm x 40mm base. If you look closely in the above picture, you will see that the regiment is largely deployed in a single rank so as to accomodate the greater depth of the base needed to hold a standing firing figure so that wear and tear and mishandling of the stand leads to a broken musket.

I created the illusion of two ranks by taking several figures and staggering them forward a couple of paces. I like the A27 Cocking His Musket pose and I turn the figure sideways and place him in the front rank on his base. Some of the Militia kneeling firing figures (A-7) are useful in the front row beacsue they do not have a bayonet and thus the musket barrels do not extend beyond the size of the base.

The next time I will do the same with a regiment of men wearing hunting shirts. This will be posted tomorrow on this blog.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Just a reminder that the SYWA Convention is fast approaching. Dean West has organized a terrific game list. See below for more info on location.Thanks'Paul Petrisywconvention.blogspot.comGame List2015 SYWA SPRING CONVENTION GAME SCHEDULETHURSDAY EVENING EVENTSMany attendees arrive at the convention on Thursday afternoon. In general, party atmosphere dominates the proceedings as old friends and new come together to set-up and arrange the tables in the game room and in general assure that all is in order for the convention official opening on Friday morning. Some game masters set-up their scenarios on Thursday evening, so that their battle is ready to begin promptly on Friday when a sufficient number of newly arrived members sign-up for the game. This year, there may very well be a "pick-up game" or two on Thursday evening if there is interest.FRIDAY EVENTS10 AM TO 3 PM SESSIONTABLE 1 – Seven Years War Battle in Western Germany: It is 1760, and a large French army under General Du Muy marches to take Prince Ferdinand's outnumbered Allied army in flank. The allies meanwhile maneuver to block the bold Frenchman's maneuver. Paul Petri hosts, using With Drums Beating rules and 10mm figures. 4 to 6 playersTABLE 2 – The Battle of Eutaw Springs, Sept. 8, 1781: We will refight this historical AWI battle using a scenario designed by the late Jim Mitchell, and using modified rules which combine Jim's Yankee Doodle rules with the late John Hill's Across a Deadly Field innovative Active-Passive turn sequence. The game is an opportunity to enjoy the war game design prowess of two of our greatest and departed gaming heroes. Patrick Lebeau hosts using 28 mm figures. 6 to 8 playersTABLE 3 – Action at Altenbrunsler: In an attempt to gobble up an isolated Hessian garrison at Altenbrunsler, Baron de Clozen has crossed the Eder River at Ellenburg with 6,000 men. The Hessian general Graf von Kanitz and his 1,500 men must either defend the town or attempt an escape. Alex Burn hosts, using Final Argument of Kings rules and 15mm figures. 2 to 4 playersTABLE 4 – U.S. Navy in the AWI: Each player will command one ship in a series of small scenarios: Break-out of the frigate USS Alliance; Yankee Privateers vs. Convoy and USS Alliance vs. Her Majesty's ships Atalanta & Trepassey. Lynn Langer hosts, using Age of Fighting Sail rules (brand new high resolution rules for single ship or squadron actions) and 1:1200 ships. 2 to 6TABLE 5 – Blood on the Tundra – Set in 1740, Cossack servants of the Czar attempt to exterminate the Siberian Chukchis, but these Stone Age reindeer herders will not submit. It is a game of cat and mouse but who is hunting who? Chris Engel keeps it weird with this guerrilla war scenario using BOTT, guerrilla rules, and 15 mm figures. Up to 6 playersTABLE 6 – reserved for India game set-upTABLE 7 – Great Northern War Battle: This scenario features beautiful Swedish and Prussian 28 mm figures. This game is hosted byDanny Fogelman and Ken Bunger using Beneath the Lily Banner rules. 6 to 8 playersTable 8- The Battle of Cowpens – Tarleton and Morgan face-off in a refight of this historic AWI battle hosted by Michael Wedding,using Guns of Liberty rules and 15 mm figures arrayed on a gorgeous terrain mat. 6 to 8 players3 PM TO MIDNIGHT SESSIONTABLE 1 – Get Them Wagons Runnin': AWI skirmish game hosted by Herb Gundt and Tom Osborn using modified Brother Against Brother rules and 28 mm figures. 4 to 6 playersTABLE 2 – continuation of Eutaw Springs. When concluded, Dean West will set-up a SYW game using Final Argument of Kings TABLE 3 – SYW Battle – Dale Wood and Scott Stensland host, using AOR rules and 15 mm figures.TABLE 4 – Arethusa vs. Belle Paul; The first Anglo-French naval action of the AWI. This sea battle Hosted by Jeff Knudsen using Captains Bold rules (A beer and pretzels game of frigate duels) and 1:1200 ships. 2 playersOn Table 4, a second Knudsen scenario will follow the small Arethusa vs. Belle Paul scenario:Naval Action off Lagos, August 1759: What if De La Clues squadron had not become split-up the night before the battle? Could he have successfully engaged Boscowan's British and then joined Conflan's fleet for the invasion of Britain? Jeff Knudsen hosts using Admirals: A Game of Fleet Actions in the Golden Age of Fighting Sail and 1:900 ships. Up to 4 playersTABLE 5 – Anglo-Dutch War Naval Battle: A bloody confrontation at sea set in the late 17th century. Tod Kershner hosts using Warfare at Sea in the Age of Reason rules and 1/1200 Langton ships. 6 playersTABLE 6 – Battle of Bungapat: In India, the French are defending the religious rights of the Bungerite people from the intolerance of British East India Company and its forces. Juergen Olk hosts this massive battle, using Currycorne rules and 25 mm figures. This game will play out over both days of the convention and can accommodate a large number of players.Table 7: Continuation of Great Northern War battleTable 8 – Battle of Trenton: A refight of the famous AWI battle that gave the rebels hope. Hosted by Jim Purky using Fife & Drum rules, 30 mm figures, and custom made terrain by Herb Gundt. 4 players￼￼SATURDAY EVENTS9 AM to 6 PM SESSION/Break/GAMING UNTIL MIDNIGHT – We will break for Prof. Duffy's presentation, and then resume gaming TABLE 1 – Get Them Wagons Runnin': AWI skirmish game hosted by Herb Gundt and Tom Osborn using modified Brother Against Brother rules and 28 mm figures. 4 to 6 playersTABLE 2 – Ohio Frontier Aflame: The French & Indian War heats up in the Ohio Territory as the tribes go on the warpath. The scheming Europeans send their soldiers, frontiersmen, and Indians against opposing settlements. Mike Stelzer hosts this wide ranging battle using Song of Drums and Tomahawks rules, and 28 mm figures. 2 to 8 playersTABLE 3 – Chevert Attacks: On the eve of the main battle at Hastenbeck, French General Chevert leads an elite force of infantry against the strong points covering the Hanoverian right flank in the vicinity of Varonburg. A stiff fight ensues. Jude Becker hosts, using Age of Reason rules and 28 mm figure. 6 to 12 players.TABLE 4 – Les Corsairs Francais: A group of Dunkerque corsair privateers escorting their prizes takes refuge in a cove in the English Channel, but are attacked there by a Royal Navy squadron intent on preventing them from escaping while recapturing those prizes. Jeff Knudsen hosts, using Away Boarders! rules and 1:600 ships. Up to 6 playersTABLE 5 – Attack of the Embattled Farmers: An AWI skirmish scenario inspired by the British retreat from Concord. In order to get their cargo safely across the game board, British regulars must run a gauntlet of fire brought down on them by "those damn rebels." Tod Kershner hosts, using Iroquois Terror rules and 28 mm figures. Up to 8 playersTABLE 6 – Battle of Bungapat ContinuesTABLE 7 – Saving Pomerania!: King Frederick's territory of Pomerania has been invaded by Swedish forces. To resist the Nordic horde, the local Prussian commander scrapes together whatever local forces are available, largely second line troops, and marches to engage the foe. Ken Bunger hosts this game, using Tricorne rules and 28 mm figures. Up to 6 playersTABLE 8 – Snow in Silesia – King Frederick launches a Winter campaign in Silesia in hopes of decisively defeating Prince Charles of Lorraine's Austrians before the year 1758 ends. Jim Purky hosts, using Fife & Drum rules and 30 mm figures. Up to 8 playersTABLE 9 – Battle of Weigelstein: 42 mm SYW armies battle it out to claim Weigelstein. by Phil Petti and Alex Csukor host, using modified Charge! Rules. 4 to 6 playersTABLE 10 – The Battle of Schnitzelbank: The Prussians engage a powerful Austro-Russian army near Schnitzelbank. Todd Fisher and John Read host, using Empire & Revolution for the SYW and 15 mm figures. 6 to 8 playersAt the conclusion of Professor Duffy's presentation which begins at 6 PM , the Teddy Bear game will commence on Table 4TABLE 4 – Teddy Bear Game: Fur flies and paws flail as Freddy Bears struggle for battlefield dominance. Animal lovers Brian Vizek and Herb Gundt host, using ? rules and burly 28 mm figures. BRING YOUR TEDDY BEAR UNITS. 10 to 12 playersWe're trying something new this year. On Saturday – each game master will have his own table for the day. Game masters should plan to set-up their games on Saturday morning (or Friday night if table is open). However, game masters can CHOSE when they wish to commence their game, as long as at least five games commence at around 9 AM. Somewhat staggered start times should assure that all games are well attended.NOTE: Jeff's Les Corsairs Francais scenario will start at 9 am and will probably conclude around 1 pm. When it does end, Brian and Herb should plan to set-up the Teddy Bear game on Jeff's TABLE 4.Ongoing games can be played out after Professor Duffy's presentation, and empty tables can be used in the evening for "pick-up" games.PLEASE DIRECT YOUR QUESTIONS TO:Event Coordinator Dean West Horseholder45@ Yahoo.com

Now that I can download PDF files into the new Fife & Drum Miniatures website, I think that I will start posting some of the old historical battle accounts that Jim Mitchell and I wrote for the Seven Years War Association Journal when we were editors, on different shifts:

I get a fair number of requests for back issues and articles and it occurs to me that the new Fife & Drum Miniatures web site is the right place to make the articles available for free. It is my intention to have the web site be more than just an on line store for the purchase of miniatures, I also want it to be a place where enthusiasts of 18 Century military history can go to obtain information on battles, wargame scenarios, painting guides and much more.

I was able to reduce the size of the Road To Philadelphia 1777 PDF file from 17MB to around 800KB, thanks to Henry Hyde, who generously sifted the document through his magical software and reduced the size of the document without losing any resolution in the pictures. Thank you Henry. :)

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

I have downloaded a PDF file article covering the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777 and posted it on the new Fife & Drum Miniatures web site. The article provides some uniform information and provides some hints on how to organize your armies and get ready to play this historical period.

Click on the link to visit the page so that you can download the article.

This is just the first of what will be many similar PDFs covering the Seven Years War/War of Austrian Succession and the American Revolution (AWI). I plan to add uniform painting guides, How To Do It articles, wargame scenarios and much much more on the Fife & Drum website .

Blogger Technical Assistance Requested

For those of you who are using Blogger blogs, how do you set up your comments so that you can reply directly to the person who made the comment? For example, if four people leave a comment, I have seen blogs where the blog owner can reply to each comment, directly below said comment. I have never figured out how to do this, so I have to post my responses at the end of the comment chain. How can I change this?

Monday, February 16, 2015

I received the latest pictures of Richard Ansell's work on the Minden SYW range today including the Grenadiers de France, shown at the top of the page, three SYW Personality figures (Fermor, von Browne, and Prinz Moritz) and 8 different Russian artillery crew (4 loading poses and 4 firing poses). The Zieten personality figure is a work in progress and he should be ready for viewing within a week, I would imagine.

I run out of words and superlatives to describe each new batch of figures that we get from Richard. The facial expressions on the personality figures are wonderful and the Fermor figure is one of the most amazing mounted general figures that I have ever seen. The Russian artillery crew really look the business and they give me a great sense of anticipation for how the eventual Russian range will look.

Take a look at the figures (click on the pictures to enlarge the view) and enjoy!

Russian General Fermor

Prussian General Prinz Moritz

Austrian Marshal von Browne

Russian artillery crew firing.

Russian artillery crew loading.

I might as well show you pictures of the Russian artillery pieces that Robi Baker created. These pieces are now in production and will be available after the Kickstarter backers get their cannon models. Actually, I have pix of the actually castings to show. I will fix this later today.

Russian artillery casting (L-R) 12-pd Unicorn, Shuvalov Howitzer, 6-pd and 12 pd cannon. Two-wheel ammo cart in the background . There is also a 4-wheel model that will soon be added.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

I have been taking a lot of new pictures of the Minden SYW figure range in order to add pictures to the new Fife & Drum website. I sort of stumbled onto the concept of flipping my iPad camera upside down so that the lens is on the ground level. This leads to a better looking picture in terms of assessing the height of the figures and I can easily crop out any of the foreground turf in order to focus on the figures.

Please visit the new Fife & Drum Miniatures web site at the link below:

Please note that the Fife & Drum website illustrates figures for both the Fife & Drum AWI range as well as the Minden SYW range. I have decided that the term "Fife & Drum Miniatures" will apply to the entire company as a form of product branding, but within that brand, one can find the separate AWI and SYW figure ranges.

Closer view of the Austrian Musketeers - Minden Miniatures

Croats skirmishing. This picture depicts all of the different Croat variants in the range.

A Mass of Croats Ready To Cause Some Trouble

I have grown to really like the Croat figures in the Minden range. Their animation really lends themselves to creating little dioramas on each stand, such as having the kneeling figures crouching down behind rocks and trees.

Converged Austrian (German) and Hungarian Grenadiers. The mounted officer is the musketeer colonel with a grenadier head swap. I hope to add such a figure to the Minden range eventually, sculptor's time permitting.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

I received a new shipment of castings from Griffin Moulds today and am pleased to report that the four Russian cannon: Shuvalov Howitzer, 12-pound Unicorn, 6-pounder and 12-pounder have arrived. I also received the new Austrian 2-wheel and 4-wheel ammunition wagons and can start shipping everything next week, after I take care of the Kickstarter backers first.

I have to say that sculptor Robi Baker did a fantastic job on rendering these models and Griffin Moulds did their usual excellent job of casting figures that HAVE NO FLASH ON THEM! I think that when you spend your hard earned money on Wargame figures, that you should at least expect the company to remove the flash and the metal spiders, etc. I hand pack each order myself and inspect every casting that I ship for flash and I remove any that I find on the figures. And Griffin does such an excellent job on their casting that usually there is not a single piece of flash on the models that I see when I open the bags of inventory.

Austrian and French artillery crew are also back in stock and I now have the missing andirons that are attached to the front of the Austrian 3 and 6 pounders and 7-pound howitzer. So I can start filling the rest of the Austrian cannon for Kickstarter backers.

I am out traveling for work and so I will have to wait until Friday to take pictures of the new models in the artillery range.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

I have a couple of pieces of good news to report that is germane to the KIckstarter campaign for the Austrian and Russian artillery equipment:

First of all, Griffin Moulds shipped several boxes of castings to me on Thursday last, and they are scheduled to arrive in the US on Monday. I'm told that the new artillery models are included in this shipment. So hopefully we can see the four Russian cannon and some Austrian artillery wagons.

Our sculptor for all of the equipment, Robi Baker, also made some Russian wagons and finished working on the Brummer and a Conestoga Wagon for our Fife & Drum AWI figure range.

Secondly, I also heard from Richard Ansell on Thursday and he informs me that he is nearly finished with the 8 Russian artillery crewmen (4 loading, and 4 firing) and four personality figures: Zieten, Prinz Moritz, Marshall Fermor, and con Browne. I will post pictures as soon as I receive them from Richard